Article XVI. It is understood that any obligations assumed in this treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited to the time of its occupancy thereof; but it will, upon the termination of such occupancy, advise any Government established in the island to assume the same obligations.
Article XVII. The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington within six months from the date hereof, or earlier if possible.
In faith whereof we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals.
Done in duplicate at Paris, the tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.
- (Seal) William R. Day.
- (Seal) Cushman K. Davis.
- (Seal) William P. Frye.
- (Seal) George Gray.
- (Seal) Whitelaw Reid.
- (Seal) Eugenio Montero Rios.
- (Seal) B. de Abarzuza.
- (Seal) J. de Garnica.
- (Seal) W. R. de Villa Urrutia.
- (Seal) Rafael Cerero.
Footnotes
[ 1 ] At this time it was still a secret that among the many intrigues afoot during the negotiations at Paris was one for the transfer of the Philippines to Belgium. But for the perfectly correct attitude of King Leopold, it might have had a chance to succeed, or at least to make trouble.